29

Walter

"I think I'll meet you both in the helm." I held a shirt and pair of jeans in front of my chest and stomach as Mora kept her lingering gaze on me. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Care for company?" Bez asked, minxy as ever.

I grinned then grimaced. "I sort of just want to decompress for a minute. Also, I really need a thorough shower because I can smell myself, which is an indicator."

"I think you smell delicious," Bez said.

"Uh-huh. But you also think chocolate covered swordfish smells delicious."

"Truly divine taste, Bezzy." Mora sniffed the air like she was envisioning the meal only a Diabolic could enjoy, then rested her eyes back on me. "But he has a point. The Alden musk is a personal favorite."

I quirked a brow.

"Toodles." She waved her fingers back and forth. "Come along, Bezzy."

Bez reluctantly left without a word, giving me a moment to catch my breath. He whistled sharply, which was literally the worst type of flirty gesture. Weather's ears perked up, Sunny's expression softened with hesitation before my puppy trotted out of the room, following Bez and Mora without so much as a kiss or pet goodbye. Did Bez steal my Cerberus?

"You too, Tony. We'll catch up soon. So much to talk about." I lifted my familiar off my head, offering him a delicate breeze to carry him out of the room and reach the helm alongside the others.

The trickle of black lining the gust was unintended. I tensed. With Bez's essence, I had to focus, fixate on the entirety of the Diabolic essence that linked us together if I sought to cast demon abilities. The devil housed within me, didn't work the same way.

I was connected to Beelzebub, the literal devil locked away until the end of time. Thankfully, I couldn't feel him, but I remembered him. Somehow, pieces of Bez's memories had seeped into that devil essence which he'd held onto for centuries. There was so much of my boyfriend's past just beneath the surface of my memories, interwoven with the essence residing inside me, and as much as I wanted to explore my new powers, the lengths and capabilities I'd now be able to meet—I didn't want to unbox Bez's private history.

Stepping into the bathroom, I started the shower and allowed every thought to wash away. Okay. Not every thought. We'd need to have a conversation about Bez's memories laced within the essence now circulating through my body. In order to survive these changes, I needed to understand them, which meant I had to use these abilities. During my resurrection I glimpsed one of Bez's memories, and who knew how many more would surface in the future.

My body had changed. Nothing Diabolic in nature. I had to be honest, I wouldn't mind the tails. Not so much the wings. They seemed like a lot of work. No demony or devily appendages. I'd simply noticed my muscles had tightened. I wasn't sporting an eight-pack with the deepest V cut known to mankind like Bez, but for the first time in my life, I could see a bit of definition in my abs. The actual muscles began to appear slightly sculpted opposed to my soft, flat stomach.

Also as I stared at my reflection, I realized I was staring at my reflection. Crisp and clear, without my glasses. I snorted. Even the best incantations in the world couldn't permanently fix blurry vision or any senses, all of it temporary, reliant on constant recasting and maintaining fluid mana control. And contact lenses were the literal worst, whereas Lasik was roulette just asking for a bad outcome.

"Stop catastrophizing," I said, finally understanding the gist of the term.

I needed to stop fixating, dwelling on the worst possible consequence.

Point was, I liked my glasses and looked bizarre without them.

I hopped in the shower and scrubbed away the anxiety of a life I no longer led, ignoring the fact that someone had already washed away the blood and grime of battle while I rested unconscious. If Bez made one joke about sponge baths, I'd smack him.

Smiling, I focused on the life I had, one where Bez and I would bicker and joke and laugh and everything else. I tried not to dwell on what had happened… I'd died. I'd been resurrected. I was changed, presumably forever. Just enough devil essence to make me strong and immortal and Diabolic-esque, but not so much essence that it'd overtake me, burning through my flesh like before. This devil essence required a host, even without sentience, and as such would now work to keep me alive and well forever.

"Forever," I said. I repeated the word again and again until it left me with a semantic satiation, the experience when a word was uttered so many times that it seemingly lost all meaning. "What is forever?"

After I stepped out of the shower, I dried off and tossed on my clothes.

"You're planning to do what?" Bez shouted so loudly I heard him from the opposite end of the villa. "The fuck you are!"

"Hear me out, Bezzy," Mora whispered.

I cocked my head, drifting down the hall. Bez wasn't that loud. I mean, it was Bez—he was loud. But this came from enhanced senses. I focused on the grinding gears throughout the home, shifting, clicking, controlling all the magic weaved between every single speck of the foundation. Grimacing, I shook it all away. No. No, I did not like heightened hearing and suddenly understood why Bez preferred to dull his sensory extensions. That'd be the first thing I would ask him to teach me.

Whether curious for what infuriated Bez or eager to see him with his oh-so-trademarked scowl, I darted ahead in a blur arriving at the helm instantaneously. "What's going on?"

"Wally, you're all better!" Kell smiled, approvingly. "About time. Although, without your pestering I was finally able to finish all my lovely renovations."

I rolled my eyes. Of course, she'd taken advantage of my literal death to make changes she knew I'd oppose.

Kell had changed her hair, either through her recovery, a glamour, or possibly wig. In any case, the pink and black streaked pixie cut with a wavy top and short sides looked great on her.

She wore a sleeveless, backless white blouse indicating all her burns had healed in the time I'd been asleep.

"Well? What's the up and up?"

"Mora is gonna destroy the villa," Bez blurted.

"I'm not going to destroy it. I'm circumventing the magic to bigger and better uses."

"Okay," I asked, keeping my tone steady. "Please explain."

"Certainly." Mora ruffled her blonde locks. The new host didn't have any noticeable Mythic features, which seemed true to form on the parts of Mora I knew—she preferred a human body, no mana or magic, just a regular person. "If you recall, Wally, I lost my Diabolic void after allowing you the privilege of using it, exposing my weavings throughout Seattle to the entire Collective."

"Privilege," Bez snapped. "He paid you an ancient, one-of-a-kind artifact."

Agatha's Heart. Something Kell had never used to my knowledge. Then again, it could've been tucked away in the storage of her witch's hat which seemed infinite.

"Can I finish?" Mora asked, lips pursed in frustration in a way I surmised only Bez could cause. "Anyway, once I tore down my shadows, I considered relocating. Something I've had to do at least once a century no matter how cautious and careful and considerate I am around Collective and Mythic Council territories. So I asked myself, why am I tiptoeing around these fools, again and again?"

"Because they'd slaughter you," Bez said. "Band together and take you out, even if it costs a few thousand lives."

"Precisely. I have no interest in going to war. I very much prefer cultivating allies, opposed to making everyone my enemy." Mora locked her brown eyes, no hint of essence in them, onto Bez. "Unlike some Diabolics I know."

He scoffed.

"So, what exactly are you going to do?" I asked.

"Thanks to Kell's mastery of the unknown, along with what Bezzy learned from Eli-dead, and of course, the sweet nothings you muttered while asleep, I'll be able to finally create my very own kingdom in the mortal realm." Mora posed, possibly for flair, or merely satiating her ego and ambition which was clearly as big as Bez had warned—if not bigger.

"Excuse me?"

"Using the cloaking technology, I'm going to create a city, hidden here in Alaska. It's outside of Collective control, not on top of any Mythic lands, and won't intervene with mortal dwellings. It'll be a haven completely adjacent from the mortal realm but an easy hop, skip, and a jump away for anyone who wishes to come and go when traveling this quaint world."

"And who would be invited to this city?" Bez asked.

"Anyone who pledges fealty, of course. Besides, I've made a lot of friends over the centuries and I'm tired of keeping to the shadows when I play with them." Mora sauntered toward the navigation system. "I know plenty of people who'd kill for the privacy I'm offering. Hell, I know plenty who've killed simply to maintain their privacy."

"How would this work, exactly?" I asked.

Bez scowled at me, offended I'd even consider it when our magical house was apparently at stake. Truthfully, I planned to shoot down whatever Mora and Kell proposed, but it was best I understood the ins and outs of the plan before I disassembled Kell's tinkering. There were still Diabolics locked away in the engine room, trapped and fueling the magical cloaking.

"So glad you asked." Kell strutted, showmanship clearly important. "I'll be taking the magic that cuts through dimensions, weaves around realities, creates its own pathways, and altering it into a specific transfixed location. That'll expand and explode around the wilderness, careful not to disturb anything thanks to trans-dimensional frequencies."

"Yes, I know how pocket portals work," I said. "I did work at the Magus Estate and have clearance to the Dimensional Atrium there."

"Exactly," Mora said. "Who didn't have access? This will be unlike those Fae gifts. It'll be undetectable to anyone whatsoever thanks to the—"

"Diabolic essence," I finished. "What will happen to that once you create your cloaked kingdom?"

"That's the drawback." Mora gestured to Kell.

"It's sort of a one-shot. Which I'll have to get exactly right on the first go," she explained. "Releasing the energy to create a pocket realm will completely eradicate the Diabolic essence we currently have, cementing a perfect veil which will hide all forms of tracking and detection. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to keep the essence intact. It apparently requires a more delicate, patient process or whatever. With the Diabolic essence obliterated, it'll prevent the traveling functions in the villa or the city, which I really wanted to keep."

"No. It's perfect." I smiled, grateful the locked away Diabolics would find the same peace in oblivion as Agares when the final pieces of their essence were destroyed along with the villa.

"Perfect?" Bez pulled me aside, talking in a hush. "This house is perfect. Perfect for us. We can see the world and no one can see us. All the resources you could ever ask for are connected by all the various layers of dimensional weaving throughout this home. You realize by stripping the villa of all its magic, all those divided sections will collide, completely crashing into each other and destroying this home. There'll be nothing left."

"I'm fine with that. I don't need this place. We can get our own place. Assuming there will be homes available."

"I've got the best architects and construction team money can buy," Mora said. "Besides, the two Diabolics ruling this kingdom will require very special manors, exuding our glory, not something as pedestrian as what the pretentious, former baron built."

"If it's something you want, I can try," Bez said to me, gruff and unenthused.

"Come on, Bezzy. You know I always get what I want." Mora stepped in close, raking her fingernails down his blazer and dress shirt. "And what I want is a kingdom for us: the Demon and her Wicked Witch, alongside the Devil and his Misfit Mage."

"I'm no longer a devil."

"Something I would really like to revisit because I feel late to the party and like the invitation I got said casual, then everyone showed up chic."

"Yes, yes, dearest." Mora waved her hand. "You can yell at me later."

"Oh, there will be more than yelling. We're talking spankings. Lots of reprimands about honesty."

I scrunched my face at Kell's comment and Mora's delighted smirk.

"Bezzy, nothing has to change. No one has to know."

"Fine. Whatever. You all do what you want." Bez zipped away.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." I nodded toward his fading blur. "You two do whatever you two have planned. Just promise not to destroy the place while we're all still inside it. Especially with Tony and Weather."

Tony clacked his claws and Sunny yapped.

"I'd never do something so reckless." Kell winked. "You should know me better than that by now."

I chased after Bez, reaching the bedroom where he sat and sulked.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"It's something." I sat close to Bez, my thigh pressed against his.

"It's a lot to consider, all changing so quickly." He furrowed his brow. "And I knew she was up to something, which I should've paid attention to. Instead, I was distracted."

"Because of me. Because I died."

He lay his hand on my shaky knee, a knee I hadn't even realized nervously bounced. "No. Never. Focusing on your recovery was the only thing keeping me afloat or grounded from thoughts that spiraled in every possible direction."

"Like?"

"When I told you the truth… Since sharing my secret, it was a weight lifted from centuries of fear. Fear of what would happen if someone learned the lies I'd cultivated guising myself as Beelzebub. Then the worst did happen. I confessed to Eligos so he'd spare you—realizing his plot wouldn't work—which he responded to crudely, because it turned out he knew all along."

I listened as Bez explained it all, Eligos' plan for his piece of devil essence, how he and Novus created the orbs, the influence and guidance they whispered to Magus Remington.

"You're worried what happens if the rest of the world finds out?"

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. I just liked the idea of being here in the villa, hidden away for none to see. However long we needed. You could learn and grow and adapt. I could, I don't know."

"It seems like the city, the kingdom, Mora wants will offer that too."

"Doubtful. She likes busy places, meeting plenty of new and malleable people."

"We could kick her out. Change the locks, put up a sign that says no girls allowed in the demon boys' clubhouse." I nudged his shoulder with mine, watching his face light up with a smirk. "We'll post Weather at the front door, guarding our little oasis. Tony, too. He's small but far more ferocious."

"No. I just want to make sure you're okay with it. Losing this place."

"Bez, as long as I'm with you, I'm happy wherever we go." I interlocked my fingers with his, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Your hair smells inviting." Bez moved his thumb, massaging the skin between my thumb and index finger. "Perhaps we can table this conversation and discuss more important matters?"

"Such as?" I played coy, turning my head to meet his gaze.

Bez kissed me. Gentle like he wanted to test my reaction, the delicacy of my resurrected body. I invited his tongue with my own, playing with the tongue ring he'd glamoured—or possibly pierced in his new host body, one that resembled Bez so completely I'd forgotten what this person looked like before the composite took hold.

Bez broke his lips away from mine, continuing his kisses along my neck and shoulder.

He ran his hands under my shirt, lifting it, and licking my chest, my nipple, covering my face with the fabric as he gave up helping me undress and kissed my abdomen. Clawed fingers gently brushed and tickled my skin, wet lips kissed my stomach, sending a blissful jolt of static. Buried beneath this shirt was suffocating in the most exhilarating sense. I fumbled to free myself, knowing full well I'd done this to Bez on more than one occasion when seeking to tease his cock before he freed himself. He'd stripped my pants off and I still hadn't wriggled loose from the tangled tee.

Dammit. At least Bez had the excuse of horns getting in his way.

I flexed my biceps, shredding the cotton holding me back, and sucked in a deep breath as Bez's warm mouth swallowed my tip, running his tongue along every nerve ending. I checked for horns. Nothing. Duh.

Bez had a minxy expression, running his tongue ring down my shaft.

I panted, enticed.

"Take off your clothes," I demanded.

"I'm busy." He swallowed my cock, rubbing his fingertips—not claws—against my hips, sending sparks that made me thrust into him again and again, lost in pleasure.

I pushed him off, knocking him onto the floor, lying on his back. Carefully, I unraveled the loose knot of his tie and yanked it off, simultaneously ripping the buttons off his dress shirt with my other hand.

Straddling his hips, I grinded against them as I held his shoulders down and leaned forward, kissing him. Indulging in the taste of his lips, I released my grip. Big mistake.

Bez spun me off him with my face pressed against the floor, positioning my knees and adjusting my hips. He trailed his tongue up my spine, one column at a time, patiently, then zipped across the room—each step a slow-moving act where the world itself stilled as my eyes locked onto the blurred actions with precision—retrieving a small bottle from the drawer. He returned, continuing to kiss my back as he stroked himself, lubing his cock.

"I love you, Wally."

"I love you, too." I bit my lip as he entered me.

"Say my name." He held my hips, taking slow strokes easing his full length inside me. "I need to hear you say it. Please, Wally."

"I love you, Bez."

He thrusted all the way in.

"Bez," I moaned.

Again.

"Bez." I quivered.

Each time I uttered his name, he pumped faster and harder into me, eliciting the deepest pleasure. Every muffled grunt and satisfied groan, unable to utter his name further only enticed him to pound with more furious passion. Even lacking the link, the bond which intertwined our sensations hadn't dulled this moment. If anything, I felt more connected to Bez now. I wanted more than anything to feel his satisfaction, his pleasure, exciting me to work harder to understand every aspect of his body. Something we spent the last six months mastering of one another.

He stroked my cock, rubbing the precum along the head. It brought me so close I thought I'd explode until his touch stopped leaving me pulsating a breath away from cumming, edged right to the precipice of orgasming—something very unlike Bez who'd always preferred to make me cum first, watch me twitch in ecstasy before continuing only to make me convulse all over again, demanding I satisfy his delights by having my own.

"I'm sorry. I just…" He paused, putting all his weight onto my back and resting his head on the back of mine. "Do you still see me as Bez? When you learned the truth, you were fine. But am I still Bez without the devil? Was I ever?"

I grabbed his hand, pulling it close to my mouth. He'd balled a fist, not desiring or perhaps fearing affection and comfort. I stared at his tight knuckles.

"You are whoever you see yourself as. I've seen you as Bez, the wicked, mean devil." I kissed a knuckle. "I've seen you as Bez, the gentle, caring devil." I kissed his next knuckle. "I've seen you as Bez, the brave, unrelenting demon who's saved me more times than I can count." I kissed a third knuckle. "You are the man I love. Devil. Demon. Diabolic. You hold my heart, and you always will."

"Really?"

"Yes." I turned, catching a glimpse of his watery crimson eyes. "Are you worried what others will think, seeing you as a demon, not a devil?"

"Fuck everyone else." He playfully popped his hips against my ass, and I gasped at the sudden, heavy thrust. "Sorry."

"I'm fine." I moved my hands, bracing for any playful excitement.

"I suppose that's what I hate, worrying what you… Not you." Bez kissed my nape. "You're powerful, brave, unrelenting—a real annoying quality—"

"Hey!"

"I mean that in the best way. You make me considerate of more than myself. Something I've struggled with for too long." Bez moved, gentle, but at a steady pace. "I spent too long in Hell, serving the needs and attention of others, so much so I forgot myself. Lost myself. Dreamed up a demon knight friend who in the end didn't remember a damn thing about me, not really. Even so, when I arrived here—all I wanted was to become someone who'd be remembered, worshiped, feared."

"Loved?"

"No." His lips quivered against my nape. "I'd never understood it. Thought it a mortal daydream. A fantasy Mora lived in."

"Bez." I ran my fingertips along his slow-moving hips. "Do you want to talk about it? I mean, without your cock inside me?"

We both snickered.

"Yes, I do. I want to talk to you about everything, ever, always, Wally."

I turned to kiss him, but Bez wrapped his arms under mine, then around the back of my head, pinning me as his teeth grazed my neck. "But right now, I want to fuck you."

He waited, running his fingers through my damp curls.

"Yes," I moaned.

He thrusted quickly, excitingly, pounding into me for at least the next fifteen minutes from what the clock indicated when I glanced up in a haze of ecstasy. Each minute passing made my body tighten, ready and unable to hold back. I came, clawing my fingers along the floor as I erupted with fiery passion. Literally.

Black flames trailed the floor, inadvertently cast by the spark of my nails against the hardwood.

"Bez," I said, biting back a whimper as he continued thrusting. "Bez…"

"Don't worry about it." He readjusted, releasing his hold, and turned my head—all while still taking steady strokes—pressing his cheek against mine so we could watch the fire trickle toward the wall, engulfing it. "I've got it under control."

And he did. His essence kept the fire I'd cast in check as he continued. I lost myself in the dance of the flames, the heat licking my skin, and the arousing grunts Bez made. Slick sweat coated each of us from the ongoing passion, the fire, the desire. Savoring every second, my body shuddered in sync with Bez's as he took twitchy thrusts when he came. He growled, feral and unwilling to stop. Resting on top of me, he kissed my shoulders, taking easy thrusts.

He stopped, leaving himself buried in me, continuing to kiss, lick, and nibble my skin.

We lay there, silently staring into the fire that slowly consumed the bedroom wall. Each flick of the flames held in the careful control Bez possessed, and I couldn't wait to fully understand this side of myself. A side I could share and learn from with him. A side that'd be ours and my own all at once. It was a paradox of feelings, feelings I couldn't wait to discover with Bez.

"I love you, Bez." The fire ate away the self-portrait of Baron Novus, the one Bez had punched a hole through. "We should probably put out the flames before they reach the closet. We might be destroying the villa, but I'd rather not trash everything inside. You know there are thousands of one-of-a-kind artifacts in here, ancient tomes, collectible…"

"Shush." He hugged me tightly, sweaty and strong. "Let's just enjoy the bedside fire and the quiet crackle. No need for lectures."

"I wasn't lecturing."

Bez pulled his hips back a smidge, bumping them into me, making our skin slap. "This counts as cock warming, for your information."

"It does not, and everyone just says FYI. They've even got a store."

"Which flopped, like the malls I told Mora would fail. But does anyone listen to me? No."

"You're insufferable." I stifled a giggle, arching instinctively as Bez pressed himself closer.

"I know." He lay on top of me, nuzzling my hair. "Sorry."

"Never be sorry. Be annoying. Talk to me. Talk it out until we figure it out. Annoy me. Did I mention you're annoying?"

"Dick."

"You love it," I said. "And so do I."

"I love you, Wally."